According to data released on Tuesday by the General Administration of Customs, the import of scrap copper in China fell 19.8% YoY in December 2017 as the government continued to crack down on scrap metal imports.

The world's number one copper consumer - China imported 260,000 tons of scrap copper in December, down 4.1% from 271,000 tons in November. China's scrap copper imports in the full year of 2017 amounted to 3.56 million tons, still an increase of 6.2% over 2016.

China's Ministry of Environmental Protection announced a more stringent waste import restriction at the end of last year, which will limit imports of scrap copper. Ministry of Environmental Protection stipulates that only China's end-users (enterprises engaged in processing and utilization) are allowed to import scrap copper.Hardware titanium sand blast product manufacturer

The announcement said scrap copper users need to have their own processing plants and equipment, and pollution allowance before import. End-users need not violate environmental regulations within two years, otherwise they will not be imported.

Import and export enterprises are currently unable to import scrap copper unless they can prove that they are end-users; from the end of 2018, China will ban the import of scrap metal, including scrapped wires, waste motor motors, bulk scrap metal and other "scrapped seven" categories.

There have been rumors that MEP submitted a series of documents to the World Trade Organization (WTO) on November 15, 2017. The paper pointed out that China will adopt the new "Control Standard for Environmental Protection of Solid Waste Imported as Raw Materials" in the second half of December 2017, which will be "effective" on March 1, 2018 and the news will be confirmed later .

MEP and the AQSIQ jointly released 11 national environmental protection standards of "Control Standards for Environmental Protection of Solid Waste Imported as Raw Materials", and the new standard will come into force on March 1, 2018.

However, Chinese copper smelters did not feel the supply of raw materials was tight, and their refined copper output hit a high of 863,500 tons in December.Titanium brush CNC milling part manufacturer

Customs data also show that China's unwrought copper and copper imports in 2017 amounted to 4.69 million tons, the lowest level since 2013, a decrease of 5.2%.

China Non-wrought rolled copper and copper imports in December 2017 were 450,000 tonnes, down 4.3% mom but imports still hit the second highest level in 2017 due to increased demand in winter due to limited production in winter.